Michael Mancienne expressed his 'shock and delight' at making his England Under-21 bow against Romania on Tuesday night.

In an exclusive interview with www.qpr.co.uk, the Chelsea loanee spoke of his surprise at playing 45 minutes for Stuart Pearce's side in the international friendly at Ashton Gate.

"I was delighted to make my debut, but it was totally unexpected," he said.

"I thought I might get on for the last 20 minutes or so, but when the gaffer told me to get warmed up at half-time it came as a big shock."

Mancienne looked on from the England bench during the first half, as Matt Derbyshire put the Three Lions ahead on nine minutes.

But the lead lasted just 17 minutes, as Romania levelled when Bogdan Stancu's free-kick from the edge of the area came back off the bar and went over the line off keeper Joe Hart's back.

Mancienne's arrival at half-time coincided with an improved performance from the hosts and the man himself believes England should have gone on to win the tie, especially when Romania were reduced to ten men when Cristian Scutaru saw red for two bookable offences.

"I thought we did more than enough to win the game. I can't remember them having a single shot on goal in the second half," Mancienne told www.qpr.co.uk.

"We had all the possession and with a little bit more luck in front of goal, we would have won the game."

Having had a 45 minute taster of Under-21international football for the first time, the R's defender is determined to force his way into Pearce's squad for the forthcoming UEFA Championship qualifiers against Montenegro and Bulgaria in early September.

"I'm looking to push on now. I've had a brief taste of it and now I want more of the same," he said.

"Playing for England at any level is a dream come true and now I want to progress.

"Stuart Pearce was great with me and made a really good impression. He offered me plenty of advice and afterwards said how pleased he was with my performance."